Envelope stuffing machines, for example of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,736,999 issued Mar. 6, 1956 to F. J. Rouan et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,914,895 issued Dec. 1, 1959 to S. W. Martin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,077,181 issued Mar. 7, 1978 to L. K. Asher et. al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,341 issued Oct. 2, 1979 to F. T. Roetter et. al., all of which patents are assigned to the assignee of the present invention, generally include: conventional structure for delivering an envelope, with its address panel oriented upwardly and its flap opened, to a registration gate at an enclosure inserting station; conventional structure for timely opening the delivered envelope, including a plurality of fingers known in the art as stripper fingers, which are insertable into the throat of the envelope for opening the same; and conventional structure for inserting an enclosure into the opened envelope. More particularly, the envelope opening structure conventionally includes a plate which acts as a ledge upon which the flap of the envelope is located when it is delivered to the inserting station. And, although none of the aforesaid patents show the same, the assignee of the present invention has for many years provided in its Model 3320 Table Top Inserter, one or rigid finger members, known in the art as depressor fingers, which are fixedly attached to the framework of the Inserter and disposed in overhanging relationship with respect to the envelope's address panel, for depressing the body of the envelope downwardly against the resistance afforded by the envelope flap ledge, for partially opening the throat of the envelope to facilitate insertion of the stripper fingers into the envelope.
Operators of the aforesaid Model 3320 Inserter have experienced difficulties with the same due to the aforesaid fixed depressor fingers tending to prevent delivery of the envelope to the registration gate. Accordingly, many operators have been bending the depressor fingers away from the path of travel of the envelope to ensure delivery to the registration gate, as a result of which the force exerted on the envelope by the depressor fingers is reduced and the envelope is insufficiently depressed to permit entry of the stripper fingers into the envelope for opening the same. Accordingly, misfeeds resulting from improper envelope registration and failure to open the envelopes have been found to be directly attributable to the provision of the fixed depressor fingers. Further, when the fixed depressor finger structure hereinbefore described was replaced in a Model 3320 Inserter by structure in accordance with the present invention, the failure rate of one misfeed per 22 stuffing cycles experienced with the fixed depressor finger structure was reduced to one misfeed per 180 stuffing cycles.
Accordingly:
an object of the present invention is to provide improvements in envelope stuffing apparatus;
another object is to provide such apparatus with improved means for opening an envelope;
another object is to provide such apparatus with means for depressing the envelope for opening the same after delivery thereof to the enclosure inserting station; and
another object is to provide such apparatus with means, operable in response to delivery of the envelope to the inserting station, for depressing the envelope sufficiently to open the same enough to permit entry of the stripper fingers into the envelope.